Rick and Morty Fan Theory: Evil Morty

Today I thought I’d stray away from my usual subjects of marketing and travel. I’d like to talk about one of my favorite television shows, Rick and Morty. I’m a huge fan of the show for many reasons. One of them is the character development. Even in the first season, we can see Morty become more engaged in Rick’s work. However, in the third season, we see Morty become aggressive and possibly resentful towards Rick.

With Rick Sanchez, the pitiful genius, we see him become more troubled and watch as his apathetic facade gives way. Even Summer, Morty’s older sister, becomes more prominent to the plot and starts to tag along on some of Rick and Morty’s adventures.

The topic I want to explore today is not actually the character development, but a character that has become more important in the show, despite only two appearances over three seasons. This character is perhaps one of the most important villains in the show: Evil Morty. We first see Evil Morty in season one, episode ten, “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind.” The episode involved an Evil Rick with his forever side-kick, Evil Morty.

Evil Rick was murdering other Ricks from different universes and timelines, framing Rick from Earth Dimension C-137, the real Rick, in the process. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Evil Rick was being controlled with by an implant in his brain. Officers from the Citadel are unsure who is controlling him, but the viewers see at the end that it was Evil Morty all along. This was the introduction to his character that ended with an ominous foreshadowing of future appearances.

The next time we saw him was season 3, episode seven, “The Ricklantis Mixup.” Throughout the episode, the “adorable Morty candidate” runs for office in the citadel and, shockingly, wins. This was surprising to the whole citadel, who has always shunned the Mortys and forced them into eternal submission. It’s only in the last moments of the episode that we realize the main character, who is one of the many alternate versions of Morty on the Citadel of Ricks, is actually Evil Morty.

Here is my theory, which is widely held by the Rick and Morty fan community, of who Evil Morty really is. The theory goes that Rick did not actually abandon his daughter Beth. He did stay with her and watched Morty grow up. Evil Morty is the real Morty from Earth Dimension C-137.

In support of this theory, we see a baby Morty come up on the screen while Evil Rick is downloading the contents of the real Rick’s brain. If Rick had really only just come back into Beth’s life, he would never have known a baby Morty. This is interesting because the whole point of the show is that Rick was the unknown grandfather, the smartest man in the universe, who only just came back into his family’s life. Of course, there are many more “Easter eggs” to support this theory.

I suppose that the real Rick isn’t actually from the same universe that he’s in now, the one with our Morty. I think that Rick actually did live with his family and watched Morty grow up. Rick taught Morty all he knew and raised him to be just as brilliant, if not more, as himself. This Morty was shielded from the insecurities of his father, instead, he was nurtured with the confidence and intelligence from his grandfather. But the original Morty turned cold and evil.

Rick was ashamed of what he had done and so he left that universe for a new one. A universe where he didn’t know Morty, thus leaving Morty to be the “stupid” Morty that he started off as in the first season. The stupid Morty is a good person.

The other Morty, the original Morty, was then left without Rick. He abandoned his life with his family and set off on his quest to hunt down all the Ricks and eventually become president at the Citadel of Ricks.

It’s not hard to imagine all the possible ways this character could develop. Could he turn the whole Citadel against Rick from Dimension C-137? Could he create a massive army or kidnap Rick’s new Morty? We will only know when the show reveals it, but that gives us time to speculate and think of fun side-theories for ourselves. One thing is certain for me, we have not seen the end of Evil Morty.

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I am a freelance writer and stand-up comedian living in San Diego. I speak five languages (English, French, Italian, German, and Arabic) and have lived in Europe and the Middle East for the most part of the past four years. I write about travel, art, science, and history, or anything that captures my heart.